Kazu heard the bell ringing for lunch and smiled, he hadn't liked the idea of walking into class halfway through and having to explain his absence so the onset of the lunch hour simplified things. He could always deny his absence and hope they'd put it down to Tom-Tom's scantiness rather than the fact that Kazu had been up most of the night, he didn't much see the point of going to school a zombie so the sleep in had seemed a good idea.
He'd got up around ten and grabbed his skates and schoolbag, thankful that Ayaka was working so he didn't have to go through another one of her lectures on time management and responsibility. He did however notice a post-it on the kitchen table with his name outlined in bright red capital letters making it look more like a warning than one of her "have a good day" notes she sometimes left. He'd avoided reading it, he was actually in a reasonably good mood so didn't fancy ruining it as soon as he'd managed to pull himself out of bed.
He was going to meet up with Damien after school and try some new track the elder teen had found on the other side of town, the niggling thought of Ikki had been pushed right to the back of his mind but he couldn't help feeling guilty for ignoring the issue altogether, yet if the crow had been bothered maybe he would have at least called to find out why he wasn't sat in class. He hadn't called, hadn't text, hadn't even got anyone else to ask where he was - confirmation of how blind and pig ignorant Ikki really was.
Another issue he'd pushed to the back of his mind had been the warning Damien had given him about a certain Iron Clock paying him a visit, maybe it was because he never given Sano the time of day but he'd completely forgotten. The first he knew about it was when the brown haired college boy had suddenly appeared by his side halfway to school looking extremely smug with a mock look of concern plastered across his face.
He could never prepare himself for the annoyance of having to deal with the guy, he just crept right under the blonde's skin with inappropriate comments lined up to shoot at him again and again. He wasn't sure whether it was because Sano loved how easy he was to wind up or whether he actually did have a thing for the blonde, either way it was creepy just how persistent he was.
He had sighed as Sano skated silently along, waiting for Kazu to speak, no doubt curious with whatever insult he'd decide to throw.
"You can fuck right off."
Not entirely original he knew yet simple words were needed for simple problems, he could have no doubt sat down and spent the time to think of insults to throw at Sano next time he crawled out of his hole yet he knew whatever he threw would just fall on deaf ears. That much was clear.
"Not in the bests of moods Kazu?" The clock had almost purred, his smug grin almost breaking through his obvious worried façade. "Why ever would that be?"
Kazu had stopped and looked up at him in disbelief, the guy could be so fucking dense.
"You know what, I'm actually in a really good mood. Apart from being late for school I reckon today is going to be pretty damn good." He'd smiled the sourest smile he could muster and had set off walking again, letting the smug feeling of satisfaction wash over as Sano's face turned from cocky to confused.
It had taken a moment for the clock to catch up, left in his own stupor trying to gather the info and file it with what he already knew.
"You made up with the crow then?" He had had that look on his face, the one he held when Ikki defended Kazu and made him back off, the look of disappointment that spoke more about Sano's feelings than his words ever did. "After what he said?"
Kazu had stopped again. "What?" He turned round, now he actually was angry. "How the hell would you know what he said?" The thought of Ikki blabbing the whole story across school had sent a shiver down his spine, his heart had beat painfully once more as a cold feeling of betrayal had swept over. Surely he wouldn't have done something so cruel.
"Ok so I don't know what he said, but it's pretty damn obvious what it was about!" Sano had glared at the blonde, conveying his thoughts through his painful stare. "He's a fucking jerk, it might have taken you a while to catch on but don't be angry at me about it." He'd taken a deep breath, snapping out of the rare moment of seriousness before settling back into his cocky self. "If you need some break up loving…" He'd winked and quickly dodged the blow Kazu had sent his way.
The guy was disgusting, there had only been one person in Kazu's eyes and that had always been the crow, he might not have always known it but years of his attention always falling on that one person had finally given him understanding. The thought of anyone else made him sick, it seemed unnatural not to have Ikki, to feel the way he did about the crow but to feel it for someone else… it felt wrong.
"Just… go away." Kazu had sighed, pulling his hat down over reddening ears and walking again, thoughts of Ikki and how screwed things were now resurfacing in his mind. "I was in a good mood till you showed up."
Sano had followed silently for a minute, a step behind and the wheels of his AT's silent against the tarmac of the road. It was oddly disconcerting for the Iron Clock not to be continuing his assault of inappropriate comments. What he said next had surprised him.
"I don't know why you let him do it to you." He'd muttered, barely audible words tainted with distain.
Kazu had thought about it for a mere second. "You put up with me constantly shooting you down yet here you are, still on my back."
It was weird, in a way the situations were actually quite similar. Kazu followed Ikki around just like Sano followed Kazu, maybe that was why Ikki was so fed up with him… maybe that's why he'd started avoiding the blonde. After all, it was really annoying.
"At least you actually pay attention." Sano shot back. "Unless you grow boobs and a nice fat arse then I don't think he's going to be changing his feelings anytime soon at any rate."
Kazu had stopped for the third time, dead in his tracks, head spinning. What the fuck? He'd spun round to bark the first insult in his head yet Sano had already begun skating away in the opposite direction looking thoroughly pissed off. His words fell on dead air.
"Yeah? Well… fuck off."
There had been no point even shouting after him, he was right. Kazu had always known there hadn't been a chance yet desperate disbelief had already brought him this far, if he'd given up on it then his whole world would have shattered. Ikki held it all together, kept him himself together. Without Ikki he was nothing, Ikki would merely lose his shadow.
He'd growled inwardly, annoyed at letting Sano wind him up even if it had been unintentional, it must have been the shortest encounter he'd ever had with the guy. And probably the weirdest, that was saying quite a lot seeing as some of the stuff that came out of the clocks lips always seemed so unbearably foul.
Kazu had set off again, mind back on Ikki and no longer mindful of the time slipping past as the day ticked on. Usually he'd have stood his ground until the crow had eventually spat out an angry apology that neither believed to be true yet he'd have been forgiven and life would have gone on as usual. This time was different and if the crow didn't know that then what did they have?
Kazu had been panicking, he didn't want to lose Ikki, he couldn't go through it yet here he was bitter with the words they'd both said to one another, angry that Ikki hadn't bothered to even find out where the blonde was.
He'd been walking through town and passed one of the coffee shops along the way, not really aware of anything other than the fact that he was walking and his mind was on Ikki. Unaware that Damien had come out of the coffee shop and jogged to catch up with the blonde. Kazu had jumped as Damien appeared beside him.
"Hey, you deaf?" Damien had frowned at the zoned out expression on Kazu's face but rolled his eyes as Kazu snapped out of his mindless thoughts and smiled weakly. "Man you look beat, you just got up?"
"Yeah." The blonde had yawned as though to demonstrate the fact. "Meant to be at school… don't you have college?" Kazu had then stopped to talk to him, unsure whether Damien was with people or heading somewhere else, it seemed rude to continue walking.
"Technically yeah, as long as the works done they don't really mind though." Damien was holding a paper coffee cup, noticing how Kazu's eyes kept drifting to it. "You want to grab a drink? You're late already, few minutes won't hurt."
The blonde had agreed, his good mood dispelled into a rather more sombre one which didn't really mind about the amount of trouble he'd be in with Ayaka, he knew he needed to confront Ikki at some point but he sure as hell wasn't going to go rushing into it. A few minutes here and there wouldn't hurt.
And now he'd finally turned up at school, chatting to Damien about getting some new wheels from his air treks as his were going square, not really aware of being in the school grounds until the bell made its way through their conversation.
"I've got a fucking awful day, boring essay to write and thanks to you I'll no doubt have Sano whining like a bitch. Thank you Kazuma!"
Damien and Kazu laughed in sync, the blonde could hear his voice carrying across the empty yard, it felt like he hadn't laughed in months - too caught up with Ikki and his paranoia about the whole situation to take time out to relax. He hadn't hung out properly in weeks either, school work, training and trying to be with Ikki every waking moment kind of made it difficult.
"Well it wasn't me who decided to live with the guy." Kazu nudged the older teen, Damien merely rolled his eyes.
"I'm guessing that was your lunch bell?"
Kazu laughed again. "Surely your not that old to have forgotten what the bell sounds like, Damien?"
"Fuck off, I was going to ask you if you wanted to grab lunch, seeing as you're going to be a prick about it, I'm only a couple of years older than you, you know that?" He turned as if to go but Kazu grabbed his sweatshirt and pulled him back round.
"Enough years to justify calling Sano a perv." The blonde commented, pulling Damien into a walk besides him and heading for the cafeteria. "You actually got money today?"
Ikki suddenly really wanted to talk to Kazu, he really wanted to know who the guy he was with was and why he hadn't bothered showing up all morning, nosy or not he felt like it was his right to be informed on such matters. Something that hadn't previously been weighing to much on his mind now felt urgent and as he left the classroom he felt himself jogging to the cafeteria and praying that the blonde would be there, preferably alone.
He reached the main doors to cross the yard, swearing under his breath as he noticed a completely different blonde stood waiting for him. Suki. Vaguely he remembered agreeing to the meeting yet now couldn't help but feel angry about it, she was popping up everywhere at the moment and always at the wrong time.
For a second he was tempted to turn round and head round to one of the other exits, she hadn't spotted him, excuses quickly lined themselves up ready to use when the time came but he knew it was stupid. He'd have to face her sooner or later and they were supposedly dating now. It was ridiculous to be fed up with a chick so quickly, she was stunning.
Sighing he took a deep breath and went outside, smiling as best he could when she spotted him and came over. "Hey Suki." She kissed him lightly on the lips as she greeted him back, taking his hand and pulling him in the direction of the cafeteria. He wanted to go and find Kazu but not with the basic topic of their argument attached to his arm.
"…So I'm off with Yayoi shopping after school, there's a small group going and although she said just girls I'm thinking maybe you should tag along?"
Ikki looked down at the blonde and smiled weakly, he'd liked the whole kissing and attention she'd been giving him but the idea of putting any actual effort into this relationship hadn't been even remotely considered. He'd supposed she'd just tag on to the team and they'd hang out at practices and school, going shopping with a load of chicks was painful to even think about.
She was looking at him expectantly, her smile turning rather strained as the seconds of silence ticked by.
"Erm…" Ikki's list of excuses had run dry in his mind. "Shopping's not really my thing, sorry." He shrugged uselessly.
Pulling him to a stop she glared. "AT's aren't really my thing yet I've still come and watched you for the last month, I'll pretend to be interested in things you like if you do the same for me." Her voice had that disconcerting evil side tone that could have implied many a threat had he read further into it, it was a habit most girls seemed to have that could scare the toughest of men. "We're meeting outside Emiri's house at four o'clock." She looked at him as though contemplating. "And don't wear your skating shoe things, the mall banned them."
They began walking again, fingers still laced yet Ikki's palms now sweaty as he struggled to find anything to say. He was sure the Suki he'd been following around before the kiss was a completely different person, this one was mean, the one before had liked his Air Treks and had definitely known what they were called.
The entered the cafeteria and she waved over at a group of her friends from the year below theirs, Ikki blushed as she waved their laced hands in the air, making the point of them being together known to anyone who looked over.
Sighing he let his eyes scan the hall, as ever easy to find Kazu's blonde hair stood out like a lighthouse against all the darker haired teens, he was right at the other side of the hall and seemingly hadn't noticed Ikki's arrival.
He frowned as he noticed that the blonde was still with the guy he'd walked across the yard with, again in conversation with each other as they picked at their lunches. It seemed so odd to see Kazu talking to anyone other than the team, he was usually reserved and didn't like to stray to far from them yet since yesterday he'd gone off in a world of his own. The niggling feeling of recognition still there really annoyed the crow, he was pretty certain the guy didn't go to school here, he looked to old and wasn't even in uniform. Yet other than races they'd had he couldn't think where else he'd recognise him from.
Ikki had followed Suki over to grab some lunch, he took a tray and rather aimlessly started picking things up and loading it, eyes flicking over at the table at the far end of the hall. He paid but stopped before following Suki to sit with her friends.
"I'll just be a minute, save me a seat?"
She nodded and headed off, her eyes catching Ikki's target and scowling. Despite Kazu being Ikki's supposed best friend he was not her favourite person.
Ikki and Kazu conversation anyone?
Review please ;)